Johannes Cabal the Detective
A worldbuilder’s review of the steampunk themed Johannes Cabal the Detective with a piece of the novel turned into a minor artifact for use with Pathfinder RPG.
Game Design
Concerning Great Designers
Regardless who gets their name on the cover, game material is often the work of a dozen or more people. I can’t tell from looking at a supplement who came up with what idea or mechanic, so it’s nigh impossible for me to make connections between a designer and games I like.
Echelon Species (Part 1 of 3)
A teaser about how the traditional Race component has been implemented in the Echelon RPG system.
Echelon Archetypes
Archetypes help build character concepts, serving as the foundation of character development. While selection of an Archetype can make certain paths easier, it does not mean characters need to adhere to those paths. In fact, completely ignoring those paths can make for more interesting characters. Each Archetype confers bonuses to one or more Secondary Traits, access to Archetype Advantages, and provides a unique Archetype Power.
Secondary Traits of Echelon
Secondary Traits are not purchased with Experience like Core Traits; instead they are derived from Attributes or Species. Some Ability Stunts, Advantages, Hindrances, Species, and Templates may also affect Secondary Traits. There are four categories of Secondary Traits: Defense, Energy, Offense, and Spatial.
Apotheosis and Echelon Core Traits
The Core Traits for the Echelon RPG are presented. The most notable trait being Apotheosis, which tracks the character’s progress to godhood and serves as a limiting gauge.
Normal Distribution Resolution
The design calls for a resolution mechanic that simulates a normal distribution, which when graphed looks like a bell curve. This means at least three dice must used. A dice pool using 3d6 is currently the chosen configuration. The 3d6 dice pool has a range of 3-18 and a mean of 10-11. A strong reason to use the 3d6 dice was for ease of determining Difficulty Ratings (working from a mean result of 10).
Game Design: Bucking the Trend
I’m designing an RPG rules system and I’ve decided to avoid the current rules light trend. It’s going to be complex, crunchy, and may require limited math skills. This article outlines my design goals.
The Art of Game Design
Do you want to design games? Are you already a game designer? You need to read Jesse Schell’s The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. It doesn’t matter if you want to design board games, roleplaying games, or video games, this book has tools you can use.
Kohl of Seduction
The Labs presents a new item from its line of Pathfinder magic items, a new cosmetic sure to enhance players’ information gathering and object acquisitions.